This month for VR gaming was delightfully strange, as I ventured into Meta Quest 3’s latest wacky puzzle game and then took my frustrations out in a fast-paced VR battle royale.
I finally got to experience what it’s like to be in Taskmaster (it’s harder than you think), how well I would do my job if I needed it Hide the corpse from the police (not great, it turns out), and how quickly I can complete VR, spot the differences and Exit 8 (I actually did pretty well on this one.) I won my very first game then Population: One (my Fortnite skills didn’t carry over, I took a beating and I’m not proud of it).
Let’s take a look at my favorite Meta Quest 3 games and apps for July 2024. If you’re looking for more recommendations, check out my picks from last month.
Taskmaster VR
If you’ve never seen an episode of Taskmaster What are you doing with your life? It’s fantastic.
For the ignorant among you Taskmaster is a comedy game show originally from the United Kingdom – although the New Zealand and Australian versions are equally great from what I’ve seen – in which five comedians compete to see who is the best at completing various odd objectives for the eponymous Taskmaster (Greg Davies). The Taskmaster’s Assistant – Little Alex Horne – lends a helping hand by ensuring that no player breaks any rules while completing tasks (and sometimes offering help or snarky comments, or both).
It is also a game show that makes everyone who watches it feel like they can do much better than the competition. Taskmaster VR proves this to be patently untrue.
In this game you can take part in 15 challenges, plus a number of bonus tasks and a custom mode to create your own tasks. These tasks are all set in the iconic Taskmaster House and theatre, with each one judged and scored by virtual recreations of Davies and Horne. It’s literally like being in the show.
It even manages to deliver TM‘s kind of task twists that are as exciting as they are frustrating — though there are plenty of Taskmaster VR tasks that require more hands-on, less mental work.
My only criticism is that the controls can be fiddly at times. It does play into the themes of the show a bit, but I wouldn’t complain if the motion controls were more precise. It’s a criticism I’ve seen others level at the title as well.
For this reason, while I absolutely love the game – and have had a lot of fun watching friends, family, and colleagues try it out for themselves – it’s probably only a must-play for Taskmaster fans. That doesn’t mean TM Newcomers won’t find much to their liking here either, but you’ll need someone with the right attitude looking for some delightfully mindless fun rather than a player looking for a more serious and precise VR experience.
Hide the corpse
Hide the corpse is a wacky 70s themed VR puzzle game where you have one goal: hide Tom’s dead body before the police arrive. Please let me cook; this is such a good game.
You have four minutes to find a hiding place for Tom. Maybe you cracked his safe and shoved him inside, or you simply stuffed him into a corner and covered him with random objects. Either way, if you successfully hide Tom’s body from the police, you’ll be judged on a variety of factors, including how quickly you hid him, how much of his personal belongings you managed to get rid of, and how well you wiped off your fingerprints.
The game arranges each of the level’s six hiding spots individually, so you’re encouraged to replay the game to not only find every way to hide Tom, but also to maximize your score for each attempt.
I also like how hard it is to abuse Tom. It was frustrating at first, but it wouldn’t be so challenging (or realistic) if you could just throw him over your shoulder like he was a bag of feathers.
The only downside is Hide the corpse is still in early access, so not everything is complete yet. So there are only three levels you can play so far: Tom’s apartment, the garage, and an underwater level.
That said, what we have so far is fantastic, and even in this unfinished state Hide the corpse deserves your attention. And to make the deal even more attractive Hide the corpse you’ll get a discount of just over half the price you would pay at the full release if you buy the app now in early access through Meta’s App Lab.
The Exit 8 VR
The Exit 8 VR is not your typical horror game – it is finding the difference. You must travel through a well-lit white corridor with a few posters, some maintenance doors and a lone commuter going the other way, and make a decision: should you go back the way you came or not?
If everything looks as it should, you can walk down the hallway just fine, but if you notice an anomaly – be it an out-of-place door handle, strange markings on the floor, the commuter smirking menacingly at you, or a river of blood rushing towards you – you must turn around and go back the same way. Every right decision brings you one step closer to the stairs of Exit 8, but every wrong one puts you back where you started.
To play The exit 8In the looping scenario, it’s impossible not to become paranoid as you start to second-guess every decision you make – especially when you realise you’ve made a mistake but have no idea what anomaly you’ve missed. And you can’t analyse every aspect of the room forever to ensure you’re right, because if the commuter turns the corner before you do, you’ll be reset too.
But there is a determination that will grab you too. Every time I Exit 8 Once I got down, I found myself back a few hours later to try again and escape (which I’m proud to report, with a plaque warning me that I had spotted every anomaly for a double-barreled game).
It’s quite short, but also very replayable, because even if you know all the anomalies, they’re not always easy to spot. It’s also not expensive at all, making it an exceptionally affordable VR horror puzzle game that’s definitely worth your time.
PS While The exit 8 may contain jump scares, but they are well foreshadowed and avoidable if you turn and walk away – and avoid the anomaly – so there are no cheap jump scares to be had in this thriller.
Population: One
This month I also played the essential battle royale of Meta Quest 3 Population: Onewith BigBox VR’s Eric Morrill taking me through the recently added Phoenix Royale mode.
He explained that Phoenix Royale is a more accessible way to play a battle royale, such as by giving players a number of auto-respawns at the start of the match so they aren’t forced to return to queue if they get downed in the first few minutes.
I’ve played a lot of battle royales in my time. My first paid journalistic gig was as a dedicated battle royale writer covering titles like Fortnite – and while these kinds of modes aren’t what hardcore fans say they want, I’ll be the first to admit that these more forgiving options are perfect if you’re looking for a less stressful night of gaming with your squad.
That’s not to say Phoenix Royale is an “easy mode,” though. Players can purchase weapon buffs and other upgrades that make them more deadly. You’ll also lose all of your gear when you respawn (so if you’re not careful, your losses can snowball), and with Population: OneThe climbing mechanism means you always have to be careful that no player unexpectedly claims a higher spot and shoots you down.
And if you’re looking for a different play style, Population: One still has the more classic battle royale and other game modes to explore.
Inserting Population: One‘s solid gunplay, the varied map designs that offer a range of engaging battlegrounds, the adrenaline rush that comes with every battle royale, plus the fact that it’s completely free to play, and you’ve got yourself a great VR game. If you haven’t played it yet, there’s no reason not to at least give it a try.